Sessions

Article IV of the Oregon Constitution establishes when the Oregon State Legislature, of which the Senate is a part, is to meet. Section 10 of Article IV states that the Legislature will meet in regular session once every two years. The section goes on to establish starting dates for these sessions, but these dates have been changed by law (as the section allows).

Section 10 of Article IV also requires the presiding officers of both legislative houses to convene an emergency session of the Legislature when a majority of the members of each house request an emergency session.

Qualifications

No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at the time of election is not a citizen of the United States; nor anyone who has not been for one year next preceding the election an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen. However, for purposes of the general election next following the operative date of an apportionment under section 6 of this Article, the person must have been an inhabitant of the district from January 1 of the year following the reapportionment to the date of the election.

Senators and Representatives shall be at least twenty one years of age.

No person shall be a Senator or Representative who has been convicted of a felony during:

The term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative; or

The period beginning on the date of the election at which the person was elected to the office of Senator or Representative and ending on the first day of the term of office to which the person was elected.

No person is eligible to be elected as a Senator or Representative if that person has been convicted of a felony and has not completed the sentence received for the conviction prior to the date that person would take office if elected. As used in this subsection, “sentence received for the conviction” includes a term of imprisonment, any period of probation or post-prison supervision and payment of a monetary obligation imposed as all or part of a sentence.

Notwithstanding sections 11 and 15, Article IV of this Constitution:

The office of a Senator or Representative convicted of a felony during the term to which the Senator or Representative was elected or appointed shall become vacant on the date the Senator or Representative is convicted.

A person elected to the office of Senator or Representative and convicted of a felony during the period beginning on the date of the election and ending on the first day of the term of office to which the person was elected shall be ineligible to take office and the office shall become vacant on the first day of the next term of office.

Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a person who is ineligible to be a Senator or Representative under subsection (3) of this section may:

Be a Senator or Representative after the expiration of the term of office during which the person is ineligible; and

Be a candidate for the office of Senator or Representative prior to the expiration of the term of office during which the person is ineligible.

No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at all times during the term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative is not an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen or served on represent. A person shall not lose status as an inhabitant of a district if the person is absent from the district for purposes of business of the Legislative Assembly. Following the operative date of an apportionment under section 6 of this Article, until the expiration of the term of office of the person, a person may be an inhabitant of any district.

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the Senate, the Board of County Commissioners representing the vacant seat must select a replacement. This can only be done when the Senate is in session or the vacancy happens more than 61 days before the next scheduled general election[11]. The board must select a person the political party that last held the vacant seat. Three candidates who are members of the party that last controlled the seat must be considered by the board. A replacement must be selected within 30 days of the vacancy. Persons selected to fill a Senate seat serve until the next scheduled general election[12].

Redistricting

The Oregon State Legislature is responsible for proposing and passing new legislative maps. Should a plan not be passed by the deadline, or if one is vetoed or struck down by a court, the Oregon Secretary of State then assumes responsibility. Historically, the Secretary was involved in each redistricting process in the centuty prior to 2011.

2010 census

Oregon's population increased by 12 percent from 2000-2010, exceeding the national average of 9.7 percent. Noting the even partisan split and the lack of a Legislature drawn plan in a hundred years' time, the Legislature proposed and passed a new plan quickly without major controversy. Governor John Kitzhaber (D) signed the plan into law on June 13, 2011, six days after its original proposal. This is the first time Oregon enacted a redistricting plan without the involvement of the Secretary of State in 100 years. No major litigation was filed against the plan.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Oregon State Senate for 12 years while the Republicans were the majority for eight years. Oregon was under a Democratic trifecta the final year of the study.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.